Loved and hated

     "Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance's story of a family and a culture in crisis, rose to the top of bestseller lists in 2016. Since Donald Trump asked him to be his running mate, the book is a best seller again. 

     "What's also interesting is that some of those who admired the book in 2016 have changed their story. Politics! 

     "Ron Howard made the book into a feature film starring Glenn Close.

     "This is the story of a boy born into radical family dysfunction in Rust Belt America. He escaped to join the Marines, where he found structure, patriotism and strong male influences. Vance graduated from Ohio State and then Yale Law School. 

     "He was a principal at a Silicon Valley investment firm, living in San Francisco (Kamala Harris's city). Vance later became a U.S. senator in Ohio. 

     "His story is shared by millions of Americans...family resilience rooted in crushing poverty in Appalachia. He was born as James Donald Bowman, abandoned by his father and abused by his mother, who struggled with addictions. His anchors were his grandparents, known as Mamaw and Papaw. Vance took his grandfather's name to honor them. 

     "There is more here than personal story, for Vance is a skilled cultural observer who sees the deep moral under-currents shaping his private world and the public world around him."   

WORLD magazine; conclusion tomorrow